Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 712 Li Li becomes president
Phillips didn't stay in San Francisco for long. He just had a quick meal at a nearby KFC and booked the nearest flight back to Chicago.

Regarding the acquisition of Ashley Press, Meng Dawen and Garcia started negotiations and would call Fang Minghua every day to inform him of the specific progress of the negotiations.

Fang Minghua had nothing to do, so he went to a Dell store near the community and bought a Dell laptop, which he used for typing at night to avoid having to fight with others for the computer when Li Li came back.

Unfortunately, I installed the English version of W95, which was unable to input Chinese characters. However, the Microsoft store actually sold the newly released Chinese version of win95, as well as Office components.

The Chinese version of WIN95 is not needed, but the Chinese version of Office is very necessary. Just look at the price: $780!

Grab money.
Fang Minghua cursed inwardly, but had to buy it.

It's really hard to find pirated software here.

I can finally start typing, but don’t forget your job.

The negotiations on Meng Dawen's side went relatively smoothly. One wanted to buy and the other wanted to sell, and they reached an agreement in just one week.

Fang Minghua acquired all the assets of Ashley Press for US$410 million, of which US$160 million was used to pay off the debts owed by Ashley Press.

Meng Dawen told Fang Minghua on the phone: "Mr. Fang, all the documents are ready, just waiting for you to come over and sign. In addition, Mr. Garcia has made an additional request."

"any request?"

"He wants you to keep the publishing name the same after the acquisition - Ashley Press has been used for 43 years."

Fang Minghua was silent for a moment: "Okay."

Of course, the signature of both parties is only the first step. After that, you have to take the signed documents to the local government department to register changes in legal person, taxation, industry and commerce, etc.

Fortunately, Fang Minghua was only acquiring a small publishing house, which did not involve the provisions of the U.S. Comprehensive Trade Act of 1988, otherwise it would have to be reviewed and approved by the relevant federal government departments.

Of course, for all this, Fang Minghua only needs to follow Meng Dawen with his passport and tax certificate documents from the United States. He will be responsible for everything.

A week later, all acquisition change procedures were completed, and 250 million US dollars were transferred to the other party's account in accordance with the contract. The remaining 160 million was directly paid to the company's debtors.

The formal transfer procedures will be completed tomorrow morning. In the evening, Fang Minghua stood at the door of the study, looking at Li Li who was concentrating on writing an academic paper in the room, and called out, "Lili."

"Ok?"

Li Li turned her head and looked at him.

"Ashley Press is under your management," said Fang Minghua.

"Ah? No, you know I can only translate and study, but I don't understand business. I'm not as capable as my cousin." Li Li immediately refused.

"But I have to return to my country eventually. What should I do with the publishing house?" Fang Minghua asked.

"It's simple. You hire someone who understands company management to be the president. In the United States, there is a group of people called professional managers who serve as CEOs of various companies. They can definitely do a better job than me." Li Li came up with an idea.

"I know that I should hire a professional manager to run the company, but where can I find the right person right now? Even if there is a suitable person to be the CEO in the future, I can't trust him completely. In the United States, the person I trust the most is you."

"But, I'm really worried that I won't be able to do it well."

"It's not that complicated." Fang Minghua walked up to Li Li and gently stroked her shoulder. "I positioned Ashley Press to translate and publish our country's outstanding literary works, as well as some works written by Chinese writers. Of course, we can also publish a small number of outstanding literary works from other countries. This is its specialty."

"I don't want to be a large publishing company like Simon or Random House, nor do I require a lot of profit. A publishing house can just make a small profit or break even."

Li Li understood. "Minghua, you are actually using Ashley Press as a window to promote Chinese literary works, right?"

"That's what I mean."

"Well, this is also the original intention of doing translation. I also hope that more foreigners can read our country's excellent literary works. I will do a good job!"

"Well, let's discuss how to proceed with the publishing business." Fang Minghua said
The next morning after breakfast, Li Li drove the two of them to Ashley Press at 48 Baptistery Boulevard.

Nothing had changed outside, including the company sign that looked a little worn from weathering.

Fang Minghua took a look and went upstairs to the former president's office.

Garcia was waiting for him.

When Garcia saw Fang Minghua coming in, a complicated expression appeared on his face.

However, the two sides still shook hands in a friendly manner, and then Garcia handed over a document containing the names, positions, ages, etc. of the company's current employees.

"Thank you."

"Mr. Fang, I feel sorry that this publishing house no longer belongs to the Garcia family, but fortunately, Ashley Press still exists."

Garcia looked at Fang Minghua and said sincerely, "I hope that under Mr. Fang's management, Ashley can do better and better."

"I will."

Garcia left, taking only a photo frame from the bookshelf behind the boss's desk, and soon appeared on the road downstairs.

It was windy outside and his back was a little hunched.

Fang Minghua looked at it for a while, then slowly retracted his gaze and smiled at Li Li. "Lili, President Li, it's your turn to take office now."

Li Li gave him a gentle look and said nothing more. She took the information Garcia left and looked at it for a while before saying, "Minghua, this editor-in-chief David started out as an ordinary editor at a publishing house when he was young and has worked his way up to the position of editor-in-chief. He is very experienced. I plan to let him continue to be the editor-in-chief."

"Okay, you are the president now, you have the final say." Fang Minghua acted as if he didn't care.

"Don't you want to take care of things so soon? No wonder my cousin said you like to be lazy."

Li Li muttered, and continued, "The head of the finance department needs to be rehired, and Jack from the marketing and promotion department will be retained for the time being. I want to see how capable he is. Human resources and the office will be combined into one in the future. Why does a publishing house with only 40 people need so many departments? We need to streamline it."

"Appropriately expand the editorial staff, directly outsource the translation work, and I will go to our school to find people, and focus on strengthening the marketing promotion staff. This is the key point! Minghua, am I right?"

After Li Li finished speaking, she looked at Fang Minghua.

Seeing the other person giving her a thumbs up, Li Li smiled sweetly.

"Do we need to gather several key responsible persons for a meeting? President Li?" Fang Minghua asked half-jokingly and half-seriously.

"Yes! I need it."

Fang Minghua immediately picked up the desk phone and called Garcia's secretary Marilyn, asking her to notify the heads of various departments of the publishing house to come to the office for a meeting.

These people entered the office one after another, and they found that the person sitting behind the boss's desk was not the oriental man who purchased the publishing house, but a beautiful and graceful oriental woman.

(End of this chapter)